(In the past two columns we have been examining what I prefer to call “life planning.” Last week I spent some time discussing having, or not, a last will and testament. We also discussed the need to examine your applicable insurance. In every event, I emphasize that this is not a time in life to engage in “do it yourself” document preparation. The ramifications are too broad and serious.)

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While I’m immensely thankful that I was lucky enough to find the man I would marry at such a young age (we met when I was 21 and were married when I was 25), I certainly never expected that to be the case.

On the Sunday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, my pastor, James Skinner, stood up at the end of our church service.

“I want to make an announcement that I am ashamed to admit I have never made before, during all my years of ministry,” he said. “I have also never heard it announced in any church I have ever attended.”